When you’re new to WordPress you may wonder about the difference between posts and pages. They look and feel similar, sure, but they have very different uses. Let’s take a look at how they work and explore why you might choose one over the other.

WordPress Posts

One of the features that many people love about WordPress is that it’s a fantastic platform for running a blog. You can easily manage entries and even have roles such as authors and moderators who can approve content before it is published. Posts fulfil this need.

They will usually have a publish date, an author, a category, and the content should be timely. Most of the time they are shown in reverse chronological order so they behave a bit like a news site (newest at the top, oldest at the bottom). Posts will also appear in RSS feeds if you set them up on your site.

Put simply: you should use posts when you are wanting to show time-sensitive content.

Best used for: Blog posts, news updates, articles.

WordPress Pages

Pages don’t usually show a publish date or author, and are not time sensitive. Common content that is best suited to pages would include “About us” or “Contact us” page. Their content may change over time, but it is not changing frequently and it isn’t time dependent.

Put simply: pages will usually form the majority of pages on your website.

Best used for: Services pages, price lists, FAQ’s, about pages, photo galleries.

Custom post types (the secret third type)

Sometimes the creator of a theme or plugin – or even the team that put your website together (we know a pretty awesome bunch who could help) – will add additional custom post types. These will usually be created to satisfy a specific need for your website. You’ll need someone who knows what they’re doing to set those up for you, but it is possible to create a post type that will allow you to share your specific content.

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Written by Archie  |  3 April 2020